Grow Dat Farm

At Grow Dat Farm in New Orleans, Louisiana, people from different backgrounds and disciplines come together in research and practice to support public health, local economies and a sustainable food system. The farm mission is to nurture a diverse group of young leaders and provide job training through the meaningful work of growing food. It involves at-risk high school student crew members who learn to plant, harvest and cook as well as participate in leadership training classes. Social, economic and environmental issues addressed through this collaborative design project include poverty reduction, youth empowerment, employment, obesity, good health and green gardening. EPIC!

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SEED not LEED

This is why at Archinia, we do SEED not LEED. EXCELLENT heart-centered work in truly sustainable preservation from Atkins Olshin Schade Architects & Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority!

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The Power of Preservation: SEED rocks it again!

Newest SEEDoc released on the Bancroft School Project

Location: Manheim Park Neighborhood, Kansas City, Missouri

Project Description: This ambitious project -- within the city’s Green Impact Zone -- includes three main parts: the re-use of a vacant neighborhood school, new affordable housing to replace blighted structures, and new outdoor public spaces. To address a long list of neighborhood challenges, residents collaborated with four lead organizations: BNIM -- the 2011 AIA National Architecture Firm of the Year, the Make It Right Foundation, the Historic Manheim Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Housing Services. This team facilitated the participatory design process with the community in a “collaborative dialogue of discovery.” Another partner, Dalmark Development Group identified the funding metrics to ensure the project was sustainable in nature, both environmentally and economically. The project team has raised $2.1 million and is looking for the final $200k needed to build a LEED Platinum project. A community benefits agreement, fully approved by the community, is being used to assure that community expectations will be met.

Specific Issues addressed:

     Social:

     •  Preserve historic school through renovation therefore restoring “historic fabric”

     •  Health initiatives: cooking classes, health services, outdoor spaces & fitness

     •  Make a safer environment through more “eyes on the street”

     •  Build flexible space for: job training, entrepreneurship, & computer literacy

     Economic:

     •  Provide affordable housing for 104 people

     •  Spur redevelopment in area of disinvestment

     •  Increase property values

     Environmental:

     •   Create green space including gardens, playground, & public spaces

     •   Re-use site storm water

     •   Educate using greenhouse about nutrition and local food sourcing

     •   Have access to public transit

     •   Utilize LEED platinum guidelines

For more information on the SEED Network please visit their website.

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WE LOVE SEED (not LEED!)! Here's another reason why!!!

The latest post from the SEED Nework...

The Ecological and Healthy School Initiative encompasses the design and construction of the Pitagoras School Park and of a new classroom building with 10 modular classrooms. Both designs incorporate numerous sustainable building strategies including the use of locally sourced materials, a grey water filtration system, and a clay pot drip irrigation system used historically by the Incas.

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What others say about the dream/work we chase

"The SEED network consists of a group of architects and designers who argue that every decision we make in the future needs to follow the triple-bottom-line of bringing social and environmental benefits as well as economic ones. Had we taken social and environmental impacts into account over the last two hundred years of our industrial development, we would, without question, have created a world more socially just, environmentally friendly, and economically balanced than the one we have now." 
- Thomas Fisher, Dean & Author at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design

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